ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Polish Family Traditions - Making Pirogi

Updated on January 14, 2013
Source

Keeping old family traditions can be quite a challenge. Making pirogi was a task that probably took me years to master. Most of the recipes I was given created a dough that was very close to shoe leather and so hard to roll that even my marble rolling pin was physically challenged. My husband's Aunt was a champion pirogi maker and would fill her Westinghouse roaster to the top with the delicious dumplings. Her famous roaster of pirogi would be at every church picnic or fund raiser. It would have been wonderful to learn her secrets for handling the dough, but I was always half way across the United States or beyond the Atlantic Ocean in Germany. Never the less, determination was with me even if ability wasn't, and my first few batches were pretty disappointing. I was finally rescued by a friend who gave me her dough recipe. The main difference in the recipes was the addition of sour cream. The dough was finally workable and it became a joy to make pirogi. I am happy to pass it on here in case there are any aspiring pirogi makers. There is nothing like the taste of home made pirogi!

Pirogi have always been a part of our Christmas Eve celebration. The little dumpling pockets can be filled with several traditional foods. Our family favorite is mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese, but other great fillings can be sauerkraut, dry cottage cheese and chives, kielbasa, or a mix of sauerkraut and kielbasa. Always have the filling planned and ready to go before the dough is made. Pirogi are best made quickly as the dough will dry out if you have to break production to make a new filling.

Pirogi

  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 cups flour

Combine all ingredients and work the dough with your hands until it holds together well. It may be a bit sticky. Take about a third of the dough and gently work it on a flour coated surface. When it feels firm and is no longer sticky, roll it to about 1/8 inch thick. Usually pirogi are cut in 4 to 5 inch circles. The lid to a small kettle will work fine. Make sure the circle will come off of the floured surface and place a few teaspoons of your favorite filling in the center of the circle. Fold the circle in half and press the open edges together to seal them. Place the finished pirogi on flour coated wax paper. Continue making pirogi in this fashion until you have used all the dough. This recipe will make 20 to 25 pirogi depending on how thick or thin the dough is rolled.

The pirogi must next be placed in boiling water (with a little salt added). Drop them in the boiling water 1 or 2 at a time. When they freely float to the surface (it doesn't take very long - usually less than a minute) scoop them out with a slotted spoon and place in a fry pan with plenty of melted butter. Gently fry both sides of the pirogi until they have a nice golden color. Place them on a serving dish and enjoy!

It can be fun to have pirogi with different fillings on the same platter and then it becomes a taste treat to see what you get. Kind of like Forest Gump and his box of chocolates. Another great help in making pirogi is to have a set of pirogi cutters also known as dumpling makers. These can come in a boxed set of many different sizes. Mine has five sizes from 7 inch all the way to 2 1/2 inch. I really love the different sizes because then I can use every scrap of that precious dough.

I may never fill a Westinghouse Roaster with pirogi like my husband's Aunt, but her memory is always with me as I make pirogi for my family, as is thoughts of the friend who generously shared her family recipe with me.

5 stars from 1 rating of Pirogi
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)